Forestry Killa Abdullah

Introduction

 

Forestry plays an important role in the rehabilitation and development of forests, range land improvement, water shed management, wild life management and soil conservation. More over through forestry timber and fire wood can be supplied. There is only one type of forest found in the district of Killa Abdullah i.e. natural forest. The natural forest was found at two places.(1) Poipelzai (531ha) (2) Muslekh (46,538 ha). However, Popelzai natural forest reserve has been completely cut and used as fuel by the Afghan refugees in Pakistan. During early 1980’s Jungle Pir Alizai was one of the camps, where more than 95,000 registered refugees were living, along with a large number of unregistered refugees. During their stay they used wood as fuel which resulted in deforestation. The only natural forest reserve left is at Muslekh (46,538 ha).

 

Insufficient data exists to estimate the forest growth rate. However, it can be concluded from the preceding discussion that natural forest reserves certainly declined to the extent of some 531 ha near Popelzai. There is no interest among rural women in planting trees.

 

Forestry Reserve (State Forests)

 

There are only 2 ha of planted forest in the district. The remainder is natural state forest.

 

Commercial Forestry (Plantations)

There is no tradition of commercial forestry in the district, therefore all plantation efforts can be associated with government involvement. The involvement of the private sector in commercial plantation is almost non-existent.

 

Major vegetation

 

The soil of the district is suitable for vegetation. However, it is dependent on rainfall. The nature has endowed the district with a variety of vegetation. Many areas are covered with bushes of Artemisia (Tarkha sperah) and Haloxyon griffithi (Shora). In winter their roots are used for fuel in the villages, while their twiggy branches serve as feed for small ruminants. Tamarix gallica is used for fuel and for roofing of the houses. Besides these, a variety of other vegetation is found in the district. Some of the very important types are: Ephedra intermedia (Huma), Sophora alopecuroides (Ghurezah), Menthe sylvestris (Shin shob), Eremurus Aucherianus (shezgi), Achillea sanlolina (Zawal), Carum bulbo castanum (Zira siyah), Alhagi camelorum (Zoz), Sisymbium sophia (Khakshir), Arnebia Cornuta (Kharorak), Caragana ambigua (Makhi), Scirpus wardianus (Lokhae), Saecharum ciliare (Sarghasae), Andro pogon annuatus (Murgha), Thymus (Spina Maurai), Shkrae plantago major (Barang).

 

From the above mentioned vegetation, Carum Bulbo Castanum (Zira siyah) is used as spice and fetches high prices in the market. Further, Ephedra (Huma) and sicymbrium Sopihia (Khakshir) are found in large quantities and have medicinal value. A major proportion of the above mentioned vegetation is marketable. This vegetation has medicinal value and is largely used by villagers. They are easily available and mostly cheap. Wood is not available for timber purpose, the only type of wood available for fuel wood is Pistachia Khinjuk and Temarex.

 

Major natural vegetation in the district

Cutting/Marketing/Processing

 

In the district, wood obtained from the forests is mainly used for fuel purposes because other sources of fuel are either not available or too expensive. There is no data available about the quantity of exploited wood. Historically nomads have been involved in the exploitation of wood. In the recent past refugees from Afghanistan have depleted this resource.

 

Department of Forestry

 

The Forest Department in the District is administratively controlled by a Divisional Forest Officer ( DFO ), based in Pishin, who operates under the Conservator Of Forest. The Conservator Of Forest works under the Chief Conservator of Forest in the province, both located in Quetta. There are two Range Forest Officers, whose main responsibilities are to control and manage the affairs relating to forests in the district. There are two Deputy Rangers to assist the R.F.O.s. Furthermore, there is 1 Forester and 26 Forest Guards and 12 Game Watchers to assist in the protection and development of the forest.

 

Wildlife

 

The wild animals are the same as found in the other districts. They consist of wolf, fox and jackal. A few ravine deer and horses are to be seen. Mountain sheep, rabbits and markhor are rare on the northern hills. The common game birds are chikoors, see-see, sand grouse, bustard and ducks. Some of the natives have a superstition against pigeon shooting, believing that one who does so will become blind.

 

There are no statistics available to indicate the number of wild life species living in the district. It is worth mentioning that wildlife exist in the district, but with the passage of time their number has declined due to the reasons mentioned below:

 

1) There is no clear-cut government policy for the protection of wild life.

  1. Due to the influx of 95,000 Afghan refugees in this area the number of trees was reduced.

  2. Due to illegal hunting and shooting incidents, the number of birds has been reduced. Further, rapid population growth in the district has been an important reason for their decline.

 

Bee keeping

 

Killa Abdullah district is one of the most important horticultural areas of Balochistan. Nonetheless, bee-keeping as an economic activity does not exist.

 

The main reasons put forward by the residents were that bees produce honey only in warm areas. In the cold areas they are not productive at all. Bees don’t survive in the particular cold weather of the district. Thus weather is not conducive for bee- keeping.

 

GO/NGO/Private Enterprise, etc. involvement in Forestry Development

 

It is worth mentioning that fuel and timber wood cutting / processing / marketing for commercial purpose are non existent in the district. However, it has been observed that wood from Central Asia enters Chaman and then find its way into local markets.

The provincial government is involved in the process of tree planting and also looks after wildlife and game ranches. The federal government also encourages tree planting as a major environment policy issue. International donor agencies like Word Wild Life Fund (W.W.F.) are involved in saving wild life. The role of NGOs doesn’t exist in any of the forestry activities. As far as the private sector is concerned, it does not have any role on the commercial side but was found to be exploiting the wood resources for fuel purposes.

 

Coverage Forestry Services

Local Govt.

Prov. Govt.

Fed. Govt.

NGO

Internat Donor

Private Entr.

Tree planting

-

xxx

x

-

x

-

Tree harvesting

-

-

-

-

-

xxx

Fuel wood cutting/ processing

-

x

-

-

-

xxx

Fuel wood marketing

-

x

-

-

-

xxx

Timber wood cutting

-

x

-

-

-

-

Timber wood Processing

-

-

-

-

-

-

Sale of timber

-

-

-

-

-

-

Game ranches

-

x

-

-

-

-

Bee keeping

-

-

-

-

-

-

Legend: - no involvement

x minor involvement

xx substantial involvement

xxx major involvement

 

Conclusion and major Development Issues

 

The following conclusions have emerged from the above discussion:

 

  1. Forest area under forest reserves in district Killa Abdullah is very low. There is a need to develop agro forestry.

  2. Women’s involvement in forest activities is negligible and limited to some selected jobs like collecting herbs, bushes and shrubs. Sometimes they also collect fuel wood, although wood cutting is done by males.

  3. The nomads are normally involved in herding as well as collecting vegetation. Local population is also engaged in similar activities

  4. In the development of forestry the participation of local & federal government and NGOs is very low.

 

Issues

 

The following issues have come out:

 

  1. Deforestation. Forest reserves were depleted due to the non availability of cheap sources of fuel, particularly gas.

  2. Wild life management is very poor and needs substantial improvement.

  3. Environmental and ecological balance is impaired due to soil erosion, depletion of range land and population pressure.

  4. The institutional capacity of the Forestry Department needs strengtening. Their management ability need to be revitalized so that it may be able to effectively control the degradation of the environment.

 

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